Check out TouchPal third-party keyboard for iOS 8 In Action

To be honest, when I used my friend's Android device, one of the big takeaways from my last Android experience was how much I loved third party keyboards. it doesn’t make sense that we treat software keyboards just like we do a standard desktop keyboard.

We type on each key individually on a desktop keyboard because we have to, but the glass surface of a touch-screen tablet or phone doesn’t have this restriction. Why are we still typing in such an antiquated way? It’s slower, prone to mistakes, and doesn’t take advantage of the software. This is one of the most frustrating aspects of iOS, and one of the key reasons that I had a hard time letting go of my Samsung Galaxy S5.

You can't image how I was excited when Apple revealed that it would be allowing third-party keyboard access in iOS 8. This, not widgets, not extensions, was by far the most exciting thing to me about iOS 8. It’s something I’ve been longing for since I saw how much better it is to type, or should I say swipe, using third-party keyboards.

Yesterday folks at iDB were able to get their hands on with TouchPal—one of the very first third-party keyboards for iOS 8. Watch, as I show you how to enable and use a third-party keyboard in iOS 8.

Here's how to install TouchPal on your iPhone:

STEP 1: Download the keyboard app from the App Store. The app, could, in theory, allow for further customization of the keyboard. The TouchPal app that I downloaded had no options, but again, it’s alpha.

STEP 2: Now go to Settings---->General--->Keyboard---> Keyboards---> Add a new keyboard and find the Third-Party Keyboards section. Beneath it, you should see any third-party keyboard that you have installed. In this case, I saw the TouchPal keyboard here. Tap on the keyboard that you’d like to add, and it should be added to your list of available keyboards.

STEP 3: Open an app that uses the keyboard; the Notes app is a good app to use. Tap the world icon that resides to the left of the spacebar to cycle through your list of available keyboards. Eventually, you should land on TouchPal.

Once you done, you can use the third-party keyboard from your iOS keyboard.

What do you think ? Are you excited about using iOS 8 third-party keyboard ?